Art by Corey Pane
I tend to interpret the world as a song, which might not be a surprise to anyone who knows me, because I'm an MC. Most of my time is spent creating, performing, enjoying, and collaborating with others on... songs.
My songs include puns (specifying the meaning of statements that start off unclear in a funny way), rhythm, insight (a challenge to rethink what you know in a new way), and humor (it's all about enjoying life and sharing that enjoyment).
It just occurred to me that my sense of using puns, rhythm, insight, and humor in songs can lead to very different interpretations of books that some people might never consider.
For example, take something very controversial to many people, like the Bible...
1. Since the Bible wasn't written in English, we'll just look at an English translation (if you've gotten this far in the blog, I'm assuming you understand English :) )
2. One of my favorite things about MCing is double entendres. But I like triple entendres even better! In other words I love creating lyrics that mean more than one thing, and I imagine the Bible was written by someone way more skilled than me, so...
This post will just be one of many ways to interpret the Bible, NOT THE BEST OR THE ONLY WAY - just one way to open my mind and entertain you, like I do with my songs.
Here's Webster's Bible Translation of Genesis 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man hath become as one of us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he should put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Note: This takes place after a serpent has convinced Eve that she and Adam can't be like God unless she eats from this forbidden tree.
One way to interpret this quote using puns, insight, and humor is:
1. "man hath become as one of us" The person has become a separated part, disconnected from the whole... ironically doing this in attempt to be more like us ("one of us" is a different thing than "all of us").
2. "to know good and evil" The reason why the person did this, was to place their faith in the value of judging things (including people) as either "good" or "evil" (here know would mean to "believe in" or to "place value in")
3. "And now, lest he should put forth his hand" Now that the person has chosen to believe in good and evil, "God forbid" (pardon the double entendre and pun!) the person should actually take some action. Here God could be interpreted as using sarcasm and/or reverse psychology... (Putting "forth his hand" could mean taking some action or behavior. Eating the fruit of the tree of good and evil is a completely mental exercise, involving judging, worrying, forming an opinion... BUT NOT ACTUALLY DOING ANYTHING PHYSICALLY)
4. "and take also of the tree of life" Hopefully the person will do what God originally asked them to do and follow their joy, instead of being paralyzed by thoughts about what is good or evil (here life would mean ACTIVITY - someone could be physically alive, but be considered dead due to spending most of their time worrying about things... BUT NOT ACTUALLY TAKING ACTION).
5. "and eat, and live for ever:" To eat is to get the results of something. The result of taking ACTION is to learn what you're able to do, and even figure out how to do the same thing in DIFFERENT WAYS. The result of judging things/people as good or bad is reluctance to understand their needs and/or do new things with them. To live for ever is to become a part of history (History lives forever, much longer than human opinions or even human bodies. A lot of violence is caused by people who believe they are "good". Billions of people come and go without ever TAKING ACTION on their passions or fulfilling their needs... BECAUSE they are too BUSY judging themselves/their dreams as bad or good).
Before I summarize this one of many humorous, insightful Bible interpretations, I'll add another funny thought...
Adam is the part of the mind that attempts to do what it thinks will get the results a person wants. This part of the mind also provides a rational explanation for everything a person does.
Eve is the part of the mind that inquires about what it hasn't experienced. Finding out that things are "good" or "bad" can seem to provide a lot more answers (food) a lot more simply than finding out all the different ways that things can be used (seducing Eve, so to speak).
Serpent is the part of the mind that reacts based on fear of all sorts, especially fear of pain and loss.
God is the all-encompassing TRUTH, embodying the way that everything works, including the SCIENCE of predictable results, as well as the ART of unpredictable variations of possibility.
To Summarize this Hip-Hop artist-based interpretation, psychologically...
Although a person naturally feels the need to take action and enjoy life, due to their fears of being less than perfect, they stop wondering how to meet their needs, and start to question whether their needs and actions are "good" or "bad" and whether they are worthy of having those needs met. Hopefully the person realizes the stagnation this choice causes, ceases any thoughts of punishment and reward, and returns to questioning how best to take ACTION and meet their needs in the present moment. This results in more examples of how to get results that can be passed on throughout history.
To Summarize this Hip-Hop artist-based interpretation, allegorically...
A person is one with God. A serpent tells them that God doesn't think they are worthy of knowing a secret that would make them closer to God. The moment the person becomes convinced by the serpent that God doesn't think they are Good enough, they have eaten the fruit of the "Knowledge of the Tree of Good & Evil" and instantly feel ashamed that they are not as Good as God, while simultaneously feeling guilty for ignoring God by obeying the serpent. Since a belief can't be proven right or wrong, even God can't convince the person that they were already Godly, and already have everything they need to enjoy life. Instead of forcing the person to abandon the belief that they are less than Godly, God simply jokes that now that the person has "become as one of us", maybe now they will enjoy life (which is funny, because 1. they already had everything they needed to enjoy life to begin with and 2. they already were one with God, and now they've limited themselves to thinking like the serpent, which is just one limited, unproductive, and demeaning aspect of God... that will certainly NOT help the person meet their needs).
Thanks for reading this entertaining interpretation. Please don't read into it too much, it's not that deep - this post is just ONE EXAMPLE of how you can interpret things in more than one way. The BIBLE can be used to explain psychology, anatomy, astronomy, spirituality, and so much more, which is why it's alive with possibilities of meaning, which can all co-exist at once. I look at the whole world like that, especially art. To me, everything is a song.
